Older Australian men "quite confronted" over anti-rape campaign posters

Posters from an award-winning anti-rape campaign in Australia have been removed from some government offices after older men expressed discomfort about their message.

According to the Canberra Times, the signs are part of an annual campaign specifically targeting young men to intervene when they saw sexual harassment or violence occuring.

One of the images shows a woman getting into a car, with a man saying that the woman will "have to put out" after he buys her dinner. The accompanying text reads, "Permission can't be bought. Tell him." Other images deal with sexting and the concept of consent if a person is intoxicated.

The posters, primarily distributed to bars and university campuses, were also put up in some government offices.

According to Women's Centre for Health Matters executive director Marcia Williams, while the campaign is focused on men between the ages of 18 and 35, "older men were quite confronted by it. Even now, putting them in government offices, older men often find them quite confronting."

Williams noted, "There was one location where men were offended because they [the posters] were all about women."

A government spokeperson told the Times that the posters "were not considered by all directorates to be appropriate in all workplaces for all male workers of all ages".

Ad campaigns such as these have been shown to have a positive impact on behaviour. When the Edmonton-based Don't Be That Guy campaign expanded to Vancouver, the rate of sexual offenses decreased by 10 percent in 2011.

The Women's Centre for Health Matters and Canberra Rape Crisis Centre have run the "Summer of Respect" campaign since 2011. Learn more about the campaign on Facebook and WhatToSay.org.